Infinite Sword Art Online
by Asmodeus Wrathbringer
Summary: What if Ichika didn't forgot his test room and managed to enter his chosen school? He escaped the I.S Academy, but there's no escape in the game called SAO


Before I knew it, it was already time to go home.

The bell rung and the teacher said his final reminders about the assignment before leaving the room, followed by my classmates.

I too, organized my things before standing up and leaving my desk. I was about to head in the door but was stopped when two of my classmates put their hands in my shoulder and simultaneously smiled at me like a naughty kid.

"Hey Orimura, want to hang out in somewhere?" one of the two guys, Miura, said with a wink. He was well known in the school for being an Otaku.

"I'm sure the female idols will be there too!" the one who backed him up was a glasses boy named Shion. He was also well known as the guy with a thousand moe figures.

These two were my classmates and was unfortunately, the kind of people who are in to animes and Otaku stuffs.

"Sorry, I still need to do something in my home," I replied briefly, removing their hands in my shoulders.

"You're no fun at all, Orimura," the Otaku no. 1 said.

"Yeah, you're so stern just like your sister," Otaku no. 2 said and I couldn't help but bite my lips at his words.

Saying my excuse, I left the classroom in a foul mood. It's not because of my two classmates, but because of the last words Miura said. It was something I'm quite sensitive of.

Ichika Orimura is my name. I'm fifteen years old, studying in Aoetsu Private High School as a first year student and—

—I am someone who has an inferiority complex.

The source of this inferiority is my sister. My sister, Chifuyu Orimura was a great woman. She's beautiful and strong, being the first champion of the tournament called Mondo Grosso, she was a person that was idolized by many. A person that holds the title of the strongest. A person that stood at the top.

A person that I cannot catch up to, whatever I do.

I do not hate her; in fact I'm proud of her. But I couldn't help but despise the fact that I keep getting compared to her. It already happened a few times, even once televised in the world, in how a perfect sister was compared to her useless brother.

Because of that, an unreachable wall was raised between the two of us.

A wall so high that it cannot be destroyed even if I did everything I can to escape from her shadow.

Even nee-san felt this wall and started to distance herself from me, in where I responded by also doing the same. I started to avoid her whenever I can, only coming home to clean ever two weeks and living separately in an apartment complex. Of course I also started to work in part time to support myself and to become an independent person.

Thankfully, my income was large enough to support me and to blow off every now and then.

But even if I do that, it will never be enough to escape from my sister's shadows. Because no matter what I do, I will still be compared to her.

I have long realized that I cannot surpass her, but I still wanted to be known not only as the first Mondo Grosso champion's brother, but as myself. I hate being compared to her, because I know that in the end I was nothing, and will just most likely drag her down.

Feeling this depression, I sighed and continued to walk to my apartment.

"Hey Ichika!"

A voice called me from behind. I don't even need to turn around to recognize the owner of this overly cheerful voice.

"Dan," I nodded in greeting as the red haired man walked besides me, "is something the matter?"

Gotanda Dan was my best friend and the one who always drag me to accompany him in noisy concerts and boring trips. He was one of the few people that recognize me as Ichika, and not the brother of the great Chifuyu Orimura.

"Oi, I've got some good new for you!" he said with a smile, handing a medium sized box at me.

"What's this?" I asked reflexively.

Dan leaned his face and whispered, "This is the Nerve Gear that I ordered!" he said in excitement.

«Nerve Gear»

It was the name of the latest technology that a famous gaming company released just a day ago. It was widely renowed for its amazing work. To make it short, it was a device that sends the player's consciousness in a virtual reality.

I've only heard of this in the news.

It was said that unlike the old-style man-machine interface hardware like "flat screen monitors" or "controllers that you used with your hands," Nerve Gear only had a single interface, a streamlined interface that covered the whole of your head and face.

Inside, there were numerous signal components, and by using the numerous electronic signals these sent, the gear accessed the user's brain itself. The user didn't use their eyes or ears to see and listen, but took in the signals that were sent directly to their brain. In addition, the machine could access not only sight and sound, but also touch, taste, and smell as well—that is to say, all five senses.

After slipping the Nerve Gear on and locking the strap on your chin in place and saying the initiation command «Link Start», all noise fades away and you're swathed in darkness. As soon as you pass the rainbow colored circle in the middle, you're in another world made entirely out of data.

That's how it works... I think.

I remember that Dan was so excited about this game... so why was he lending it to me without even using it?

Deciding to know, I ask him this question.

"Eh, why you say... well, I promised to accompany Ran in a concert tonight so I won't be able to log on," he muttered with a sigh. By accompany, I was sure that he was being forced by his sister to come with her, "So, I'm leaving this babe for you just for this night! So enjoy!"

"Even if you say that... I don't even know how to use this," I said while scratching the back of my head.

"It's fine~" he said with a knowing smile, "just read the instructions... oh Ran is calling, better go now. Enjoy your game Ichika! Return it tomorrow!"

The redhead said as he ran away and left me alone.

I sighed while staring at the box with a frown... should I use it?

I.S.A.O

After eating dinner, I unpacked the box and saw the instruction sheet that Dan was talking about. I read its contents, and it was surprisingly easy to use. Although it's my first time touching a Nerve Gear, I felt intrigue by this piece of technology.

"Might as well try it," I muttered as I equipped the headpiece and laid my body the bed.

"Link Start..."

The moment I said that, I felt my senses being numbed and my brain being strained by a little bit. The next second I opened my eyes, I found myself standing in a dark room, looking at a human figure in front of me. The label above says, «Character Creation»

Unconsciously, I smiled a bit while raising my hand and scanning through the features in the menu screen.

After a few minutes of customization, I was satisfied with the looks of my new character. The figure in front of me looks like a handsome prince from a ridiculous story. The male figure was so different from me in many ways.

"...then next is... character name... huh?"

Reaching towards the holographic keyboard, I automatically typed the name Kurazakura. I immediately erased it. The name Kurazakura came from the I.S of my sister... the gallant black figure that managed to defeat all of its enemies with nothing but a sword.

No, I won't live on her shadow anymore... in this place... no one will be able to judge me. That's right, this is the place where I can be me.

I muttered as I typed the words in the keyboard and pressed confirm.

«Welcome to Sword Art Online, Byakushiki.»

I.S.A,O

"Wow," I muttered as I looked at my surroundings.

The endlessly stretching plains gave off a beautiful red as the sun had started setting. Way up north, there was the silhouette of a forest, a sparkling lake down south, and I could just about make out the walls that surrounded the city to the east. To the west, there was a limitless sky going on forever with bunches of golden clouds drifting by.

I was at the plains that stretched to the west of the «Starting City», which was situated at the north end of the first floor of the colossal floating castle—«Aincrad». There should be numerous players fighting monsters around here; but because of the enormous size, none of them were visible.

I've completely leap into the game.

«FullDive».

It was a total seclusion from reality, fitting of the word "full."

The reason for this is that the Nerve Gear not only sent fake signals to the five senses—but also blocked and rerouted the orders that the brain sent to the body.

This can be called the most basic requirement for moving freely in a virtual reality. If the body received the brain's signals when the user was in FullDive, the moment the user decided they wanted to «run» their actual body would run into a wall.

Because the Nerve Gear could reroute the commands the brain sent through the spinal cord, I could move my avatar around freely and swing the sword on my hand about.

"Amazing," I muttered once again as I started to look around «Starting City», there were so many players with different looks and genders, though I doubt that most of the females here are real. It was common for a male player to create a female character after all.

I remembered the excitement and enthusiasm that «Sword Art Online» created when it was announced through the media.

Nerve Gear had realized the future setting for gaming with FullDive. However, due to the innovation of the actual machine, only unremarkable titles came forth for the all-important software. They were all puzzles, education related or environmental type games, calling forth discontent from game addicts.

This kind of technology may not be a match for I.S, but I'm sure that it is close.

I started to walk around and search for the NPC that will give me a quest. I've read from the instructions that NPCs will be the ones who will mainly give quest to players and other information. With that knowledge, I began to search for an NPC with the '!' symbol above their head.

It took me a fe minutes before I finally found one. The quest required me to kill 5 «Enraged Boar» and collect 3 «Boar Meat». The reward for this quest was 200 exp along with 50 Col to go with an item «Roasted Meat» that was an item for regeneration, it was also a consumable.

I left the city with excitement as I hunted for the «Enraged Boar». The moment I found them, I used the most basic one-handed sword skill and allowed the system to guide me in performing it. The skill «Vital Thrust» dealt 35 damage to my target... I guess I need to increase this skill sometime later to use it more effectively.

The adrenaline I felt was simply amazing. I was fighting for real and I was enjoying it.

It took me fifteen minutes to finish my quest. I acquired an item called «Crude Scrap Leather» which can be turned into a leather armor when taken to a blacksmith. I checked my Col and there 5,050 Col from the starting money to the reward that I acquired from the completion of the quest.

Clicking the map feature, I marked the place where the blacksmith was located.

I smiled. Maybe I should also order a Nerve Gear for myself.

I.S.A.O

After three hours of continuous quest and monster killing, I was already at level 3, leveling here in SAO was harder than I expected. I only managed to boost my level by going in the front lines and killing monsters whose level far surpasses mine. I only died one time when I became surrounded by a horde of ant monsters and was attacked by their queen, which ended in my lost.

Furthermore, my items were already better than the basic. My one handed sword «Arc Filtered Steel» was a rare drop that has a nice durability of 100 and can be enhanced 10 times. I'm quite lucky to gain this drop from the «Ant Bishop» that I managed to defeat after drinking several bottles of potion and running around avoiding possible damage.

It was rather cool that I know some kendo. Moving and reacting was much easier than I anticipated and because of it, I was able to win a few duel with other players. In just three hours, I already defeated seven players.

I couldn't believe it. This game was extraordinary and I felt free while I'm here. No one will compare me with my sister and I can become great by using my own abilities! Maybe, just maybe, this is the answer to my problem. That this game will provide the freedom and will help me escape the horrible reality.

That's what I thought before I was immersed in a clear blue pillar of light. Past the blue veil, the plains in my vision blurred steadily.

Before I knew it the blue light faded, my surroundings became clear again. However, this wasn't the plains lit with the sunset anymore.

A large road paved with stone. Medieval streets surrounded by streetlamps and the huge palace radiating a dark light a fair distance away up ahead. This was the starting point, the central plaza of the «Starting City».

I looked around and saw the at the bustling layers of people that surrounded me.

Looking at the bunch of stunningly beautiful people with a variety of equipment and different hair colors, they were no doubt other players like me. There were about a few thousand—ten thousand people here.

It was likely that everyone who was logged on right now had been forcefully transported to the central plaza.

For a few seconds, everyone just looked around without a word.

Then a few mumbles and mutters could be heard here and there; it started to get louder.

"What's happening?" "Can we log out now?" "Can't they take care of it quickly?"

Huh, what were they talking about? I seem to hear that there are some problems in logging out. I checked my menu and checked for the button feature, and to my surprise, it was already gone.

"Just what is happening here...?"

As the players started to get more annoyed, shouts like "Is this a joke?" and "Get the hell out here, GMs!" could be heard.

Then suddenly.

Somebody raised his voice above all these comments and shouted.

"Ah...look above!"

I automatically turned my eyes upward and looked. There, a strange sight greeted me.

The bottom surface of the second floor, one hundred meters up in the air, was checkered in red. When I looked closely, I could make out that they were made up of two phrases crisscrossing each other. The word that was written in red was [Warning] and the other [System Announcement].

I began to relax. Maybe it was a bug, it can't be helped if something like this happened in the first day.

From the middle of the pattern, a liquid similar to blood started oozing down slowly. It came down at a rate that almost emphasized how viscid it was; but it didn't fall down; instead, it started morphing into another shape.

What appeared was a twenty meter tall man with a hooded robe draped around him. No, that wasn't exactly right. From where we were looking, we could easily see into the hood—there was no face. It was absolutely empty. I could clearly see the inner cloth and the green embroidery inside of the hood. It was the same inside the robe; all I could see inside the rim were shadows.

"Is that a GM?" "Why doesn't it have a face?"

Numerous whispers like these could be heard.

Then the right hand of the huge robe moved as if to silence them, a pure white glove appeared from the folds of the long sleeve. But this sleeve, like the rest of the robe, wasn't connected to any sort of body.

Then the left arm slowly lifted upwards, too. Then with its two empty gloves spread out in front of ten thousand players, the faceless person opened his mouth—no, it felt like it did. Then a low and calm voice of a male resonated from high up in the air.

«Players, I welcome you all to my world. My name is Kayaba Akihiko. Right now, I am the only person who can control this world.»

His words made a shiver run down on my spine; whether if it's from excitement or fear, I couldn't tell. That name... he was the famous creator of this game. I've seen his face and name in t.v so many times.

«Until you get to the top of this castle, you cannot log out of your own free will.»

My virtual heart began to beat so rough. Only hours ago, I was eating a food that was delivered and I was planning to call Dan.

«...discontinuation or dismantling of the Nerve Gear from the outside is strictly forbidden. If these things are attempted...the signal sensors in your Nerve Gear will emit a strong electromagnetic pulse, destroying your brain and stopping all of your basic functions, effectively killing you... there are already 213 casualties in the real world because of this reason...»

I will die if the Nerve Gear was removed...?

«I ask of you all to understand that «Sword Art Online» is no longer a simple game. It is a second reality...from now on, any form of revival in the game will no longer work. The moment that your HP reaches zero, your avatar will be gone forever, and at the same time—»

My thoughts returned to the time when I died just earlier.

«...your brain will be destroyed by the Nerve Gear.»

Those cruel words were embedded in my mind. At the same time, I wanted to laugh so loudly and roll on the ground. If what this guy is saying was true, then my life would be forfeited the moment my avatar here dies.

A world where life is on the line, where we will be trapped for an unknown amount of time. This ridiculous place where escape is impossible... I could only clench my fists at this man's words.

«Furthermore, hackers or other external tampering on the system of this game will cause a reaction that will make all Nerve Gears to shock your bodies. The first one will not kill you, it will act as a warning, however, the second one will ultimately kill you... this information has been spread throughout the world... in other words... even the genius Shinonono Tabane wouldn't be able to break through this system...»

My heart stopped. The last form of salvation was now gone. My thoughts became jumbled as I stood blankly in there. Other players started to panic while others kept telling that it was only a joke. But I... can tell from that emotional voice that this was that this is the only reality. In your

«...inventories, there will be a gift from me. Please confirm this.»

I almost didn't heard what he said because of my shock. But nevertheless, I opened my inventory. I pressed the item button on the menu that had just appeared and the item was there, at the top of my belongings list.

The name of the item—«hand mirror»

Suddenly the avatars around me were engulfed in white light. As soon as I took this in, I was surrounded too and all I could see was white.

Almost 2, 3 seconds later, the surroundings reappeared just as they had been...

No.

I looked in my reflection and what appeared in in the mirror was not the ridiculously handsome prince from earlier... but my own face in the real world. The black hair and reddish black eyes that made me resemble my sister so much...

When I looked around again, the crowd was no longer filled with people who looked like characters from a fantasy game. A bunch of normal looking young people had now taken their place. It was like something you'd see if you gathered a bunch of people in real life at a game show venue and dressed them up in armor. Distressingly, even the sex ratio had changed greatly.

«You will all most probably be wondering 'why.' Why am I—the creator of both the Nerve Gear and SAO, Kayaba Akihiko—doing something like this? Is this a sort of terrorist attack? Is he doing this to ransom us?'»

It was then that Kayaba's voice, which had been emotionless up to now, seemed to show some signs of emotion. Suddenly the word empathy passed through my mind, even though there was no way that would be true.

«None of these is the reason I am doing this. Not only that, but now for me, there is no longer a reason or a purpose in doing this. The reason is because...this situation itself was my purpose in doing this. To create and watch this world is the only reason I have created the Nerve Gear and SAO. And now, everything has been realized.»

Then after a short break, Kayaba's voice, now emotionless again, sounded.

«...now I have finished the official tutorial for Sword Art Online. Players—I wish you luck..»

This last sentence trailed off with a faint echo. The huge robe rose soundlessly, and started sinking, hood first, into the system message that covered the sky, as if melting. Its shoulders, then its chest, then its two arms and legs merged into in the red surface, and then a final red stain spread briefly. Right afterward, the system message that had covered the sky disappeared as suddenly as it appeared.

The sound of the wind blowing above the plaza and the BGM that the NPC orchestra was playing came softly to our ears. The game had returned to its normal state, apart from the fact that a couple of rules had been changed.

Then—at last.

The crowd of ten thousand players gave a proper reaction. In other words, countless voices started to resound loudly through the plaza.

Yells. Clamors. Shouts. Curses. Begging. And screaming.

The people that had changed from game players to prisoners in a matter of minutes crouched clutching their heads, waved their arms about, grasped each other or started to swear loudly.

In the midst of all this noise, strangely my mind became cool again.

This, is reality.

...But I don't even feel anything.

I.S.A.O

A month after Kayaba Akihiko's declaration, more than 2000 players have already died. Others remained in the «Starting City» still hoping that help will come from outside.

But I know that it was not possible.

I am sure that Tabane-san should have already done something by this time. But since nothing happened in the one month, I can only confirm the fact that what Kayaba Akihiko said was true. That this game's system can't even be breached by the creator of the I.S

If it was like that, then there's no other way but to continue living in this death game and do what the creator of this game said on the first day. Clear all of the one hundred floors and hope that he keeps his word.

As for me, I didn't do anything except follow the manual that was made by a beta tester. Its because of that manual that I managed to get some good quest and remain alive somehow. Because of my day and night killing, I managed to get into level 16 and gain some good items. The truth is that I spent the whole month upgrading my two handed skills to make the chance of my survival high.

One handed sword and a shield never fitted me, and I was used in using a katana that was given to me by my sister when I was younger. So I was more confident in two handed sword and no shield style.

I killed the necessary monster «Ruin Kobold Trooper» to complete my latest quest. The humanoid monsters were easy to handle, but once they team up, you'll find yourself in a hard position without anywhere to run, so one must be careful in fighting them,

My thoughts lingered in the few times where I almost died because of some monsters that lays trap and gangs up. However, because of Lady Luck, I managed to remain alive, barely escaping the scene. Maybe I should get used to it, since there were still 99 floors before this game is complete.

I walked on the field while letting my black and red cloak flutter in the virtual wind, my whole head being covered and hiding my face. Even though I've been trapped here for a month, I still couldn't believe how realistic this place is. All of my senses are working and I still feel the fatigue even in this world. The necessity of eating, drinking and resting was also there.

Hunger was a need that many players thought of as strange. Although they didn't really want to imagine what was happening to their bodies in the real world, it was most probable that we were being force fed nutrients somehow. That meant that the emptiness we felt here had nothing to do with our real bodies.

But if we bought some virtual bread or meat in the game and ate it, the emptiness disappeared and we felt full. There was no way to find out how this strange mechanism worked, short of asking a professional in the field of neurology.

So the opposite was true too; the hunger didn't disappear unless we ate something. We most probably wouldn't die if we starved, but the fact that it's a need that's hard to ignore doesn't change. So the players visited the restaurants that the NPCs ran daily and ate some food there, at least data-wise.

Now that I think about it, maybe I should eat the bread that I brought earlier.

Just when I was about to do that, I heard some fighting noise in the field. Normally I would just ignore it, but my curiousity got the better of me and in the end, I checked the source of the noise. I reluctantly walked in a certain direction and took a peek.

In there, I saw another cloaked figure fighting monsters while thrusting her rapier in an abnormal speed that overwhlemed the monsters that she was killing. That pure white flash, cutting through the darkness of the dim-lit dungeon.

The rapier user continued to dodge the monster's three strike combo, following with a counterattack using «Linear». After using this attack-defend pattern three more times, the player finished off the armed monster, one of this dungeon's stronger monsters, without a single wound. Despite this, the battle didn't seem to have been an easy one. Once the lethal sword skill had pierced the center of its chest, the monster had collapsed backwards and dispersed into particles. The rapier user wavered as if pushed by the insubstantial polygon shards, leaned back onto the corridor wall, slowly sliding against the wall down to a sitting position, and began breathing heavily.

The person didn't seem to notice me standing about 15 meters away at the corner of the intersection.

I watched the player for a few minutes before realizing the kind of monster that she was fighting. The eight legged creatures that caused my first death a month ago, this time, only stronger and harder to kill. The «Hell Ants»

These monsters are one of the most dangerous in this level (based from my experience) not individually, but the problem in when a player kills a certain amount of them... and when that happens...

"Hey!" I shouted as I sent a weak glare at the player.

At the sound of my approaching footsteps, the rapier user's shoulders trembled suddenly, then remained still. The fact that I wasn't a monster should have been revealed by a green-colored cursor in that person's view.

"How many of those monsters have you killed?" I asked.

"...why do you care about it," the player replied. Based from the voice, I'd take a guess that this player was a woman.

"Because it may be able to save both of us. Now tell me how many have you killed," I asked again with a stern voice.

The rapier user was silent first, but replied. "More than 20, is there any problem with it?"

Upon hearing her, I naturally took a step back in shock. Okay, now it's confirmed that she killed that many. Now, I'm absolutely sure that _its _gonna appear anytime soon. Yes, I should've just ignored this incident as I thought.

"Well damn. Prepare yourself, its gonna appear soon," I muttered as I draw the two handed sword in my back.

"...what?"

Not even a moment after she said that, we heard a cry from nearby. Furthermore, footsteps of a horde of monsters was also shaking the ground. A bad premonition dawned on me as a swarm of «Hell Ants» appeared.

To make it worse, there was _that_, the «Ant Queen».

The four metre tall monster was in the middle of the other ants. Compared to those little buggers, this one was a lot powerful and can call more ants. It should be taken down first, but I'm sure that it wouldn't be easy.

"Don't get hit by its sharp antennaes; those things carry paralysis poison," I said to her as I charged towards the «Ant Queen» while charging my two handed skill «Triple Bash», a three consecutive hit skill that knock-backs the enemy after hitting.

The rapier user followed me and used another one of her skills to assist me. At least she'll help.

I.S.A.O

An hour later, I laid on my back inside the dungeon while panting hard. That fight lasted more than I anticipated, the «Ant Queen» here was different than in the outskirts of «Starting City». It was clearly much harder and time consuming. Shouldn't this kind of monster be on higher level live five or so?

The bright side is that I gained a few useful items and that I'm still alive.

Beside me, the rapier user was sitting while quietly panting to herself. She too, fought valiantly but was hit a few times, almost being killed. It was good that I carried a lot of potions that she used to stay alive.

My stomach grumbled and I can no longer hold it. I opened my inventory and materialized the basket carrying bread and water that I bought in the city. Whenever I leave the city with food, there will be a certain time before the food loses all of its durability and will be changed into a spoiled food, which was inedible.

"Want some?" I asked the rapier user beside me.

"...why?" she asked me.

"Hm?"

"Why didn't you just left me alone? If you did that, you wouldn't have used so many potions," she squeezed her words.

I blinked wildly. "Is that a question you should be asking?" I asked her in return, "if I left you to die, I'm sure that I won't be able to call myself a human anymore."

"..." the rapier user remained silent.

"So, do you want some?" I offered the basket containing some bread, and cream that I gained from a quest.

"...yes," she replied, stretching a hand to grab a piece for herself. I briefly heard her say a small, "thank you..."

I.S.A.O

Chifuyu sat beside the bed where her brother was lying.

It has been a month, a month since he had been trapped in that jail. Even Tabane herself said it; if she tried anything to interfere with the Nerve Gear's system, it will result in the death of the remaining 8000 players.

In just a month, already 2000 have died because of this death game.

And her brother was a part of this game.

She gritted her teeth. Why, just why can't she do anything when her brother is in danger?

Is this the world's way of trying to mess with her? Because if it is, it sure have gone too far.

She gritted her teeth while holding her brother's hand.

"Be strong brother..."

All she could do for now was wish for her brother to continue on living.

Ironic, he always thought that he was inferior to her. But the truth is that he was even stronger than her.


End file.
